With mere days until the preseason opener, the Browns held their second-to-last practice before Friday's game at Green Bay.
"I'm just excited about watching all these guys do it on Friday, you know, it's been great out here," coach Hue Jackson said Tuesday, "but now we need to take it to the next level and go do it on the field against a different opponent and that'll be fun."
And as Cleveland put a wrap on Day 10 of training camp on a hot and humid afternoon, Jackson and the coaching staff are in the process of balancing who gets what kind of playing time and who needs what kind of rest.
"I think, one, is keeping them healthy but also having them play enough where you can evaluate them but make sure that we do everything we can to evaluate our team," he said.
"It's not just the new guys, it's also some old guys we need to evaluate and I've thought through it but I haven't come up to a conclusion with the rest of our staff about what exactly we're going to do, but we'll talk about that tomorrow probably."
Here's four more things to know from Tuesday's session.
Offensive line still taking shape
While Cameron Erving seems poised to earn the starting nod at center, the Browns are still in search of a right tackle. And because of that, the offensive line — which also returns Pro Bowler Joe Thomas and veteran John Greco — remains a work in progress with the Packers looming.
That dynamic, though, doesn't worry Thomas.
"There's been seasons where a lot of guys were rotating through. I think back to (former Browns coach) Eric Mangini's first year and I was the only guy that was the starter based on how training camp went," Thomas said, adding, "It's not uncommon to have position battles and have things unsettled, especially this early in camp. We haven't even had our first preseason game yet."
The Browns have seen Austin Pasztor, Spencer Drango and Alvin Bailey take first team reps at right tackle, but haven't reached a consensus.
"It doesn't concern me. I have complete faith in every guy who lines up beside us. It's just wanting to give guys opportunities to make plays. That's it," Erving said. "That's how I see it, and each day a new person may be there but it's just trying to see who fits where the best. It's as simple as that."
Thomas said the goal is to have a clear picture of what the Browns starting five will look like before the season opener Sept. 11, against the Eagles.
"You want anytime you're putting an offensive line together to find the best five guys. That's kind of our search right now and I think we're getting close to finding those best five guys," he said.
"Hopefully, we'll have them comfortably in place by Week 1 and that not always happen especially with injuries and the way the NFL goes, but that'd be cool."
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Competition at nickel**
Jamar Taylor has turned heads lately, as the fourth-year cornerback continued a solid training camp Tuesday, snagging an interception in 11-on-11 drills.
"I think he's embraced the challenge. He's come in. He's worked really hard both on and off the field. He takes coaching really well. He really has a really good athletic skill set," defensive backs coach Louie Cioffi said. "He can play both on the outside and he can play inside. Like I said, I'm excited to see him play in games. I'm glad we got him."
Taylor, who enters his first season in Cleveland after three years in Miami, has seen reps at nickel along with K'Waun Williams, who started six games last season.
"I think both those kids, football's very important to them. There's a saying that 'Iron sharpens iron.' Just like out there these guys are competing with each other," Cioffi said Tuesday. "I think at the end of the day, we'll end up with two really good football players that are going to help us win games."
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The next step for Pryor**
After shining Saturday in the Orange and Brown Scrimmage in Columbus, wide receiver Terrelle Pryor finds himself as a starter on the Browns' first depth chart. But the 6-foot-4 former quarterback isn't resting on his laurels.
"Every day I just try to pick one thing and work on it. I can't think of 30 things and then go on the field and expect to make that expectation. That's how I depend on [improving]," he said.
"There's one day, the scrimmage, I went without catching a ball, but my whole going into that, my whole mentality was blocking and getting on the angles of blocks. I thought I got better that day for me. That's what this game is about – picking things, one or two things and going out there and trying to execute it."
The next step, wide receivers coach Al Saunders said, is for Pryor to prove his worth in a live game situation.
"I look for Terrelle to be able to, from a technique standpoint and an assignment standpoint, play like he's played without pads on and in a non-contact environment. That's a real step for everybody. It's a real step for these young rookies. It's a step for every player on the football team regardless of the position," he said.
"A lot of times when you're learning skills and now all of the sudden you're against other people, you're against different looks, the speed of the game will change a little bit and it's just another developmental process for every player, and Terrelle is no different. He's going from an environment that's controlled to a degree to now an environment in Green Bay that they're trying to do some things different than we do on the practice field. The speed of the game will be different, but I have every confidence that if he continues to work as he has worked up to this point that this test will just be another one that he passes."
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Ricardo Louis working to be 'complete' WR**
Last week, Browns associate head coach/offense Pep Hamilton likened the potential of rookie receiver Ricardo Louis to Pro Bowl and Titans receiver Andre Johnson, a big-bodied strong player who made a name for himself using his size and speed.
When Louis was asked Tuesday what that meant to him, he offered a wide smile and laughed.
"That's like the fifth time I've heard that since I've been here," he said. "Growing up, I've watched him and I've met him a couple of times. My game's physical and fast, he's fast and physical, so that's a great compliment to me."
Louis, though, said he's focused on being a complete receiver.
"It's a lot more than just running and catching balls," he said. "(It's) being a technician, releases and top of the routes, stuff like that is what coach Al (Saunders) has been teaching us. Everybody's been getting better at it every day."
